A SELF-CONFESSED Saints fanatic has taken team loyalty one step further and created a tribute to the club in his own back garden.

The garden, which features seats from the old Dell as well as a red and white striped awning, will be shown on the new ITV programme Britain's Best Back Gardens today.

When Derek Caplen, of Eastmeare Court, in West Totton, saw an advert for the programme, which asked "has your garden got the potential to become one of Britain's best?", he seized the oppor-tunity to do something he had been meaning to do for months.

"I am a collector maniac, and have been saving things that I could use one day to finish off the garden," said Derek, who owns Dee Cee Upholstery in Portswood Road.

Designers from the twenty-five-episode series visited Derek's home and came up with a plan, which he could

follow to create his dream garden.

"I am very much a mad Saints supporter and my garden now has a very strong Saints theme to it," said Derek, who had help from friends and family to complete the transformation.

One of the most prominent features of the garden is a new barbecue area, which incorporates some original seats from The Dell, and an awning in the Saints colours.

Other introductions to the garden include a solar shed - a shed and a greenhouse combined - palm trees, and a water feature.

He is now planning to raise money in aid of Wessex Heartbeat by opening his garden to the public for a day.

It can be seen on Britain's Best Back Gardens on ITV at 2.30pm.